How Long Does it Take to ...?

It was a warm sunny day probably about 35 years ago.  The old box camera was about to be thrown out, when one of us realised that there was still a film in it.  Now you may remember the old reel-to-reel films labelled 127 or 120.  This was old enough to be a 120.  You could take eight pictures on a reel, then it had to be taken to the shop to have it processed before you could see what the pictures looked like.  Well, we were curious to see what was on those exposed frames.  There were about four or five shots left, so the children were paraded in the garden in silly poses just to use the film up.  A week later, we collected the pictures: same children, but aged about six or seven years different from one picture to the next.

That thought came to mind this week when another long-delayed exercise was brought to the fore.  It's a measure of how long ago it began if I tell you that, on the top of a bookcase in my bedroom is a cardboard box in which was purchased a cheap stereo that was junked at least five years ago.  Given the usual life of these things, that means the box entered my life perhaps three or four years earlier, and it was kept because it was the ideal size to house my collection of audio cassette tapes.

It must have been shortly after this that I sought a means of converting those precious recordings into computer files.  Having found something to do the job, I spent the winter's Sunday afternoons listening to some of these old tapes as they were converted, labelled and stored on my computer.  I still listen to some of them now.  The trouble was the time that it took, and you had to keep an eye on it all the while it was running, so as to note the point at which a new song began.  This meant there was little else that could be done at the same time.  Boredom set in, and the equipment sat on the shelf for many years ... until this week.

I was taken in recently by an advert (how many times has that been the case!) for a gizmo that would make this conversion.  From the write-up it sounded just what I needed to finish that long-outstanding job.  I sent off for it, and waited.  On Tuesday it arrived.  Imagine my horror when I realised that here - all the way from China - was another copy of the same little machine!  If someone has a store of cassettes they'd like to convert to mp3 files ... make me an offer.  I guarantee that it will do the job, but don't think it will happen overnight, or in the proverbial twinkling of an eye!

My latent enthusiasm was re-kindled, however, and I spent a hectic afternoon trying to remember the techniques and settings that were required ... that's after downloading and installing the latest version of the software program!  After about five hours of trial and error, I was able to complete the transfer of the third of a five-cassette pack, that had been left half finished all those years ago.  There are still two more 90-minute cassettes to do ... and then another 90 or so waiting in that big box.

I wonder how many weary winter afternoons that will take?  I'm afraid to do the maths!